Virtual Private Networking
Windows 98 uses the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) to let you establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) across the Internet or a corporate intranet. Essentially, PPTP tunnels additional network protocols inside TCP/IP to perform this function. For example, on our tests we used TCP/IP to connect to our NT server and then used the tunneled IPX protocol to see our NetWare servers on the remote network. This tunneling will also work over the IP-only Internet, giving companies more secure extranet capabilities without requiring a dedicated dial-up link.

Windows 98 provides strong client-side support for networking. Most of the enhancements it offers are available today in Windows 95 OSR2, but Windows 98 also includes support for on-the-horizon networking enhancements. If you're worried only about today, later versions of Windows 95 should serve most of your networking needs for now.